User:DDeane67217/sandbox

Albert Sidney Beckham (1897–1964) was the first African American to hold the title of school psychologist. He was a pioneering African American psychologist specializing in educational psychology and made significant contributions to the base of knowledge about the racial intelligence score disparity. Additionally, he taught in the the New York public school system and was a professor at Wilberforce University and Howard University. He served the Chicago school district as their first African American school psychologist.

Education
At the age of fifteen, Beckham enrolled at Lincoln University and was a fellow student of Francis Sumner, who would become the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in psychology. In 1915 Beckham graduated with a BA in psychology and began graduate study at Ohio State University the same year. While at Ohio State, he earned a second Bachelors degree in 1916 and a Masters degree in psychology in 1917. From 1917 to 1920, Beckham served as an assistant professor of psychology at Wilberforce University.

In 1921, Beckham began his doctoral studies at Columbia University but transferred to New York University (NYU) because there was more financial aid available at NYU. In 1924, Beckham suspended his doctoral studies to accept an instructor position, and later an assistant professor, at Howard University, becoming the first person to teach psychology at the institution.

Career and Legacy
Beckham’s scholarly work largely focused on education; however, he also conducted studies on topics such as albinism, narcolepsy, race attitudes, and life satisfaction. Despite never holding a position at a university after completing his doctorate, Beckham was a prolific researcher.

Beckham was a pioneer in the field of Black psychology and among the first African Americans to earn a PhD in psychology. He taught university students at Wilberforce University and Howard University and provided guidance to thousands of students in the Chicago public school system. His greatest research achievements fall under the headings of intelligence and behavioral disorders. In these fields Beckham provided alternative theories to mainstream psychology’s suggestions that African Americans were inherently deficient.

Selected Works
Beckham, A. S. (1924). Applied eugenics. Crisis, 28(1), 177-178.

Beckham, A. S. (1929). Is the Negro happy? Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 24(2), 186–190. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0072938

Beckham, A. S. (1930). A study of intelligence of colored adolescents of different economic and social status in typical metropolitan areas [Doctoral dissertation, New York University]. https://library.nyu.edu

Beckham, A. S. (1931). Juvenile delinquency and the Negro. Opportunity, 9, 300-302.

Beckham, A. (1932). The Negro child of pre-school age. The Southern Workman, 61, 221–226.

Beckham, A. S. (1932). Race and intelligence. Opportunity, 10, 240-242.

Beckham, A. S. (1933). A study of the intelligence of colored adolescents of different social-economic status in typical metropolitan areas. The Journal of Social Psychology, 4(1), 70-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1933.9921558

Beckham, A. S., & Israeli, N. (1933). Political, racial, and differential psychology. The Journal of Social Psychology, 4, 1.

Beckham, A. S. (1934). A study of race attitudes in negro children of adolescent age. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 29(1), 18–29. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0070753

Beckham, A. S. (1939). The intelligence of a Negro high school population in a Northern city. The Pedagogical Seminary and Journal of Genetic Psychology, 54(2), 327-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856559.1939.10534339

Beckham, A. S. (1942). A study of social background and art aptitude of superior Negro children. Journal of Applied Psychology, 26(6), 777. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0056017

Beckham, A. S. (1942). A study of social background and music ability of superior Negro children. Journal of Applied Psychology, 26(2), 210–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054822

Beckham, A. S. (1946). Albinism in Negro children. The Pedagogical Seminary and Journal of Genetic Psychology, 69(2), 199-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856559.1946.10533389